Rivendell in top gear with DuPont UPTIME

Rivendell Europe Limited, the Leeds based reprographics and design company, is the first reprographic company to purchase and install a DuPont UPTIME package, consisting of a Cyrel FAST system and a Cyrel Digital Imager (CDI), together with i'certification. Rivendell already has a large conventional Photopolymer plate studio.

'The decision to move to FAST was an easy one,’ says sales director Mike Blackshaw. ‘We already knew the quality of DuPont plates and proofing systems, we have four digital cromalin proofing devices, complimenting our digital workflow, and to be the first repro company to offer a completely solventless process in producing flexo plates was, extremely appealing.'

'As a partner to many end user clients, and a major supplier of press-ready flexo plates to packaging printers, we were fast to realise the potential of this revolutionary process. This was put to the test late last year, when, in a constrictive lead time we worked with one of our major clients who were re-launching their new brand image. We decided that for quality, speed and consistency we should use FAST. Over 60 sku's were produced in various substrates. The quality was astounding, the printer was happy and the client overwhelmed with the results.'

'The platemaking process does exactly what it says on the box. It’s a lot faster – in fact 80 per cent faster than conventional platemaking. As we are producing plates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, this is a major time-saving benefi,t which also improves our turnaround times. The quality of the plates is superb as the dots produced are much more consistent and make ready is much faster for printers.'

When combined with the latest CDI (Cyrel Digital Imager), Cyrel FAST system provides a complete digital workflow, with simple operation from prepress data to press-ready plates. The result is that a finished plate can be produced in about half an hour.

To further enhance productivity, the CyrelDigital Imager is equipped with sophisticated software that enables multiple jobs to be exposed on the same plate. The user electronically places separations onto the operator screen, maximising the useable plate area, before the images are exposed onto the plate using a laser.

After exposure, plates are exposed to UV light to harden the photopolymer before being processed in the Cyrel FAST system. Producing plates that are compatible with solvent, UV and water-based inks, the dry plate making system means that there are no chemicals to dispose of saving waste, time and money.

Mike continues, 'Apart from these obvious benefits, laser exposure gives sharper dots and clean reverses, enabling us to capture much more detail on the print, especially in highlight and shadow areas. With the addition of Vipflex Quality Control for plate measurement, we have total quality assured. An end user client recently commented that the printed result from our plates looks exactly like the proof.’